Being an Elder Sibling
by Crimson White
Summary: Susan has caught Edmund in the act of wooing. With no parents, who will give Edmund the information that all children receive at a certain stage in their lives?


Characters do not belong to me but to C S Lewis.

This is something completely different to my first fic, but something I thought would come up eventually as the kids got older. It was not, in fact, going to be the next fic that I polished up, but it was the one that shouted the loudest when I opened my documents....

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Peter was vaguely aware of a tentative knocking at his chamber door. But he had much more important matters, such as this damned trade agreement which Calormene had sent over with their latest ambassador. If Peter was reading it correctly, the agreement stated that the Calormene Peoples could capture talking beasts and use them in their slave trade and in return Narnia would receive an exclusive trade agreement in regards to Calormene red wine.

It didn't sound very fair to Peter, even if he had only been a king for a short amount of time.

"Peter!"

He jerked his head up to find a slightly irritated Susan standing in front of his desk. She had her hand poised to rap smartly on the dark wood table top.

"Finally! What's so important that I have to call you three times?"

Peter sighed and threw down his quill. He stretched his arms over his head and stifled the urge to groan.

"It's this trade treaty with Calormene, they think they can pull the wool over my eyes and convince me to give them our citizens for their slave trade in return for an exclusive wine trade agreement."

Susan looked appalled.

"That's barbaric! Do they think we're that silly?"

"Not silly, no. Just young and without minders." Peter grinned. "Little do they know that the treaty has to pass all four of us _and_ our advisors before I would sign the thing."

Susan smiled and sat herself down in the plush armchair which faced Peter's desk. The smile left her face as she gazed at the table top, on which Edmund had impishly encouraged Lucy to draw on with permanent ink a few years ago. Scribbled stick figures and pictures of flowers and, Susan thought that thing on the left was a Dryad, now decorated the High King's official desk. Lucy had improved in recent years and moved on to drawing on paper, thank goodness. Susan had tried to get Peter to acquire a new desk, but he stoutly refused, saying it would be a waste. Susan knew he secretly loved the affectionate drawings from his littlest sister. Lucy had Peter wrapped around her little finger. But Susan was procrastinating; she was here for another matter entirely. How to open this particular conversation?

"I saw Edmund kissing the Lord Yaxley's daughter, Julie." She blurted.

Susan raised her eyes to Peter. His brows had risen slightly but otherwise he made no other obvious reaction.

"The Archenland delegates daughter? Is that so?"

"Yes." Susan worried her hands with her dress. "Peter isn't he a little young?" she asked hesitantly.

"Twelve? Hadn't you kissed a boy by then Su?" Peter replied with a teasing grin.

Susan scowled at him. "Well yes, but Peter! Not like what I caught Edmund doing."

This time Peter chuckled. "What exactly was he doing then?"

Susan squirmed in her chair, going slightly red.

"It's not funny Peter! He had – his face was practically glued to her!"

At this Peter lost his battle with laughter and sunk his head into his hands, his shoulders shaking helplessly.

Susan gave him a quelling glare. "It's highly inappropriate for a king such as he."

Peter stopped laughing with much difficulty. "What would you have me do Su? Surely I cannot admonish him for it? Not when I, for I am no monk, have engaged in frivolities myself?"

"Yes well, maybe that's my point! You're his role model Peter! He bases his actions with females in accordance to what he's seen you do!"

"Are you accusing me of being loose?"

"I said no such thing."

"But you implied it! I am always discreet; you cannot say I am not. And for goodness sake Su, there was only that one lady from the river delegation; you know I'm not some cad!"

Peter was rather red in the face now and he had swept the treaty off of his desk in his agitation. Susan was glaring back at him heatedly

"Yes well, maybe Edmund doesn't see that." She paused and took a deep breath. "I think you need to give Edmund the talk."

Peter was stunned into silence. His jaw dropped comically as he gaped for air.

"What?" He squeaked, his voice cracking alarmingly.

Susan huffed in annoyance, going slightly red herself.

"The talk, Peter, you know, the 'boy plus girl plus fun times equals baby' talk."

Peter sputtered. "I don't know which is more embarrassing. The fact that you want me to talk to Edmund about sex, the fact that we are talking about talking to Edmund about sex, or the very in depth and versed explanation you just gave me!" He squinted at Susan with horror struck eyes.

"You haven't-" he trailed off hopefully.

Now Susan spluttered and stuttered, her cheeks burning. "No!"

Peter exhaled heavily. "Oh thank goodness."

Susan's eyebrows rose as she gave him a slightly miffed glare.

"And have you - you know?" She accused.

Peter shifted, grinning slyly. "weeelll –"

"Peter you haven't!" Susan shot to her feet in agitation, her fist clenched at her sides.

"I haven't! I haven't, _sheez_, it's ok! I was joking." Peter raised his hands in a defensive gesture. Slightly mollified, Susan sat herself back down, her hands moving to clench the armrests.

"You know any little er – presents – as a result of - er – fun times – will eventually probably try to contest the crown." She said to her brother.

Peter frowned and said sarcastically. "Well, that's a good way to keep me in check. Well done Su."

Susan smirked smugly, but it quickly dropped into a worried frown.

"Really Peter, you won't rush in to it will you?"

Peter scrubbed his hands over his face, embarrassed. "No Su, I won't."

"Promise?"

Peter smiled faintly. "Su, with the amount of paperwork I have, I wouldn't even have time to have a quickie in the armoury."

"Peter!"

"Alright I promise!"

There was an awkward pause during which Peter stared uneasily out the window and Susan fidgeted some more.

"I really do think that you need to talk to Edmund, Peter." She said softly.

"Can't we get someone else to do it?" He grumbled.

"Like who? Orieus? Peter he's half _horse_."

This comment sent Peter off into more fits of rather astounded laughter. He eventually calmed down enough to grin at his sister.

"I suppose I'm the only one for it then. Unless you'd rather...."

Susan crossed her arms. "No thanks, unless you want to handle the: 'no Lucy you're not dying, that's just your period' talk."

She smirked again as Peter groaned and covered his ears, chanting "I can't hear you!" to himself. He stood, hands still over his ears and edged towards the door. Just before he left, he turned back around.

"Su?"

"Hmm?"

He paused, looking at the ground as if trying to figure something

"I seem to think that, back in that other place...there _was_ someone else to do this."

Susan frowned and worked her fingers in her dress as she thought back.

"Come to think of it, who gave me the talk? I didn't just _know_ it, did I?"

"It seems the kind of thing that a parent would do." Susan replied, meeting her brother's equally confused eyes.

Peter cleared his throat. "I mean, I know we did, but Su – can you remember if we had parents?"

Susan squinted hard and a brief memory of a flowery smell and gentle hands in her hair crossed her mind before it was mixed with memories of Aslan's kind eyes and Lucy's small fingers braiding her hair and the Narnian's voices and jobs that needed to be done today.

"I – no, no I –don't remember."

Peter sighed. "Me neither. Every time I try, it just gets further and further away." He hesitated. "Maybe, do you ever think, maybe we should go back? Do they need us? Do they miss us?"

Susan looked out the window. It overlooked the training grounds and below many soldiers practised hard, her younger brother among them as a friend. Lucy would be with the wood creatures by now; they loved to take her on journeys through the meadows and forests, teaching her all about their forgotten history. Peter had a mountain of paperwork. She had the castle to run. They all had state visits and a delegation from the mountain region was arriving tomorrow.

"Maybe." She said, turning back to her brother with soft eyes. "But Narnia needs us now."

He stared at her for a moment before nodding resolutely.

"You're right, Narnia needs us now. Well best get to it then!"

He turned on his heel and walked out the door, his head high and shoulders back, hand casually going to his sword at his hip and taking the hilt in a firm grip. Peter wasn't really the little school boy from Finchley anymore.

Susan turned back to the window in time to see her younger brother down his partner with a solid blow to the faun's shield. Edmund crowed with victory but reached a hand down to help the laughing faun to his feet. He had changed too. They all had.

Perhaps, Susan mused, it wasn't that Narnia needed them; perhaps, it was that _they_ needed Narnia.

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So....a laugh out of anyone? Or did you think it is out of place in this particular fandom? Not your style? Let me know!


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